ALL BLACKS

Southland Times, Issue 19592, 2 July 1925, Page 7

ALL BLACKS

AN EASY WIN (By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright.) SYDNEY, July 1. (Received July 1, 9.35 pm.). The All Blacks played the final game of their tour against a team picked by E. J. Thorn, captain of the New South Wales team at Manly. The team consisted of Sydney and a few local players. The ground was in good order. After a good hard game New Zealand won by 24 points to 9.

Lawton, the Queensland Rhodes Scholar, who played for London against the 1924 All Blacks, was a tower of strength in today’s match by his good following up. Time and again he extricated his side from danger. Wise was undoubtedly' the best player on the ground. He gave a sterling exhibition of wing play and, though he scored only once, he was responsible for some of the other scores.

The Blues, in the first spell, were playing against a strong sun, which sometimes prevented the accurate handling of the ball. Both sides secured , about the same amount of ball from the scrums and the line-outs, but the All Blacks were making the most use of it. McCormack, Righton, Finlayson and Walters were all prominent in some bright forward movements, Righton’s dribbling rushes being a feature of the game. Harris, at full-back, played his usual sound game. L. Johnston, who has not participated in many games during the tour, showed himself to be a player of class throughout the game. The All Blacks were superior, but they did not have things all their own way. They were several times hard pressed, but the Blues, showing a tendency to kick too hard, spoiled most of their likely movements.

The New South Wales practice throughout the tour of the half-back putting ths ball into the scrum proved a hindrance tothe backs gettting going. When the New South Wales forwards got the ball out cleanly and quickly it had to lie there till the half got round to it; by that time the All Blacks side-row men were on to it.

For the All Blacks Wise, Lomas, Wright, Righton, Dickson and Finlayson scored tries, of which L. Johnson converted three. Lawton scored a try for the Blues, while Doran kicked two penalty goals.